A pair of Alpha councilmen had a physical exchange in the municipal
building after Tuesday night's meeting.

The dispute between Harry Zikas Jr. and Louis Cartabona
stemmed from an ill-timed trip to the bathroom by Zikas. The councilmen gave
different accounts of how the episode unfolded, agreeing only that it began after the
meeting adjourned.

While the meeting was still in session, the clerk began to take a roll call vote and
Cartabona pointed out council shouldn't vote while an official is missing.
Councilwoman Carol Schwar offered to go find Zikas. That's when someone else
pointed out he was using the bathroom.

Some of the public clapped after he
returned to the dais.

Zikas said he approached Cartabona in the building's entrance after the meeting to confront
him about stopping the meeting while he used the bathroom. Zikas said he told Cartabona
he didn't know officials had to get permission to use the men's room.

Zikas pointed his finger in the air to stop Cartabona from
talking so he could interject, and Cartabona asked him to stop pointing,
according to Zikas. He claims that's when Cartabona moved his hands out of the
way, placed both of his hands on Zikas' chest and shoved him.

Mayor Ed Hanics
then jumped between them, according to Zikas. Zikas said he threw his hands in the air and
walked away.

That's not how Cartabona remembers it.

He said he was having
a private conversation with Hanics in the mayor's office when Zikas barged in.
Cartabona told an "irate" Zikas that his understanding of what happened during the council meeting was inaccurate, he said.
Zikas kept following him, arguing and pointing as Cartabona tried to move away,
Cartabona claims.

He gently pulled the mayor's hand to get him to stand between
them, he said.

"I
did not do anything wrong," Cartabona said. "Although I'm not discounting I pushed him away, I am
discounting how he said it."

He said a "highly inaccurate" comment by a third
person, whom he declined to name, prompted the incident. Council will discuss the matter
in a future closed session, Cartabona said.

"I feel sorry for him, because it was spurred on by a third
party," Cartabona said. "My first order of business is to continue to do a good
job for the residents who elected me."

Hanics did not return phone messages requesting his account of
events. Zikas called Phillipsburg police after the
brief incident, and an officer told him to file a complaint with the Alpha
municipal court, he said.

An officer was not dispatched to the municipal building.

Zikas said he filed the complaint Wednesday night. The municipal court does not have hours today, so the
complaint was not available for review.

Zikas acknowledged he and Cartabona talked over each other in
raised voices, but he said Cartabona crossed a line.

"I've been in office for over 12 years, and
there have been shouting matches to the point where you're up in each others'
faces, but it's never come to a point where someone has put their hands on me
before," Zikas said. "If you let it go, where does it go next?"